---
title: "Intel's CEO says memory prices rose 'six, seven times' as Micron books an 87% margin"
description: "The cost shock behind Intel's fourth-quarter warning now has a number from its own chief executive, and an 87% margin at Micron on the other side of the table. The squeeze has a dated end in Chinese fabs, and that timing is what the stock trades on."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Chips"
published: 2026-11-14T14:07:16.008Z
modified: 2026-11-14T14:07:16.008Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/intel-s-ceo-says-memory-prices-rose-six-seven-times-as-micron-books-an-87-margin
language: en
keywords: "Intel, Micron, Memory Chips, DRAM, Semiconductors"
---

# Intel's CEO says memory prices rose 'six, seven times' as Micron books an 87% margin

> The cost shock behind Intel's fourth-quarter warning now has a number from its own chief executive, and an 87% margin at Micron on the other side of the table. The squeeze has a dated end in Chinese fabs, and that timing is what the stock trades on.

## The number on the bill

Memory prices have gone up "six, seven times," [Intel](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/intel) chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said on November 13, and "even that you willing to pay, you may not get it [1]." Next year, he added, "going to be even worse" [1]. That is the bill behind Intel's October 29 warning, which blamed high memory prices for weak PC demand and knocked 28.6% off the stock in a day, 37.6% in a month [2]. Tan had just [put $9.7 million into the shares at $64.73](https://theinference.org/article/intel-ceo-lip-bu-tan-bought-9-7-million-of-stock-at-64-73-two-sessions-later-chips-hit-five-month-lows); on Friday morning they traded at $58.41 [12].

## One shortage, two income statements

Intel's PC chip business [earned $8.1 billion in the September quarter](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intel-reports-third-quarter-2026-200100524.html), down 5% from a year earlier, and is [guided down more than 20% this quarter](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/going-intel-stock-earnings-call-165315329.html) while the company plans around industry PC units falling about 10% in 2027 [3][2]. Server chips ran the other way: $7.3 billion, up 78%, the fastest data center growth in 15 years, with demand still short of supply [3].

*Chart: **A year apart, Intel's server chips drew nearly even with its PC chips** Column chart comparing Intel's PC chip and server chip revenue, Q3 2025 versus Q3 2026, in billions of dollars*

*Segment revenue, Intel fiscal third quarter of 2025 versus 2026, from the company's results. Intersegment revenue included. [3]*

## Micron earns the margin Intel pays

[Micron](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/micron), the US memory maker on the other side of that market, [booked $54.23 billion of September-quarter sales at an 87% adjusted gross margin](https://theinference.org/article/micron-s-50-billion-quarter-meets-an-ai-stack-that-moves-its-cache), with $12.9 billion of customer prepayments and $32 billion of committed supply deals [4][5]. The link is physical: every 100 bits of HBM3E, the stacked memory inside AI accelerators, eats the fab capacity of roughly 300 bits of ordinary DRAM [6].

*Chart: **Micron's gross margin went from below zero to 86.8% in twelve quarters** Line chart of Micron's gross margin by quarter, from negative 0.7% in Q4 2023 to 86.8% in Q3 2026*

*Micron gross margin by calendar quarter. Micron's fiscal quarters end about a month earlier, so Q3 '26 is the period ended September 3, 2026. Twelve quarters of SEC filings, retrieved 14 November 2026. [15]*

## The flood that ends it is Chinese

[SK hynix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/sk-hynix), the Korean leader in that stacked memory, says its output is effectively sold out through 2029, and its finance chief expects supply to trail demand through 2030 [6]. The dated end comes from China anyway: [a report citing Charles Kau](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/cxmt-could-lower-chip-prices-by-flooding-the-market-with-supply/ar-AA2hnNdX), the industry veteran known as the Godfather of DRAM, says [CXMT](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/cxmt), China's largest DRAM maker, is building up to ten more fabs to flood the market by 2028 [7].

CXMT held 9.5% of global DRAM revenue in the June quarter, fourth behind Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, and [its high-bandwidth memory yields run near 20% to 30% against roughly 70% at SK hynix](https://www.ainvest.com/news/buy-cxmt-chinese-memory-maker-matched-micron-fastest-server-memory-class-threat-poses-slower-october-panic-2611/) [8][9]. US rules keep its chips out of American data centers, so the pressure arrives indirectly, through Europe [10].

*Chart: **Three incumbents take nine-tenths of DRAM revenue; CXMT has 9.5%** Pie chart of global DRAM revenue share: Samsung 39.4%, SK hynix 24.9%, Micron 23.3%, CXMT 9.5%*

*Share of global DRAM revenue, second quarter of 2026, TrendForce. Shares are as reported and sum to 97.1%. [8]*

Bernstein expects memory prices to stay strong into 2027, then normalize from late 2027 into 2028 [11].

## Two dates decide it

[Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia) reports on November 17 under interim chief executive [Colette Kress](https://theinference.org/markets/people/colette-kress), after [Jensen Huang](https://theinference.org/markets/people/jensen-huang) resigned [13], and what it says about the custom x86 order behind its 214.8 million Intel shares, bought at $23.28 and now worth about $12.5 billion, sets the credibility of Intel's roadmap [12]. Intel's January quarter then shows how much of the memory bill passes through to PC buyers.

At 5.4 times sales, against 3.2 for the S&P 500, and with 2027 likely to carry no positive free cash flow, the stock trades on the far side of this shortage [2]. The hedge is architectural too: SK hynix's pooled memory racks, presented with Intel in Seoul on November 12, [cut first-token latency in tests from 80.76 seconds to 15.45](https://cryptobriefing.com/sk-hynix-intel-shared-memory-pool-ai/) [14].

Until the bill stops, Intel is paying Micron's margin out of its PC line, one quarter at a time.

## Takeaway

Intel's chief executive says memory prices rose six or seven times, the bill behind its fourth-quarter warning, while Micron banks an 87% margin on the other side of the table; CXMT's Chinese fabs give the squeeze a dated end, and Intel's January quarter shows how much of the bill PC buyers absorb.

## Sources

1. [Yahoo Finance, "Intel CEO on company's turnaround, foundry bets, and the AI boom" (Lip-Bu Tan interview), 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/video/intel-ceo-on-companys-turnaround-foundry-bets-and-the-ai-boom-151704541.html)
2. [Trefis via Yahoo Finance, "What Is Going On With Intel Stock After Its Earnings Call?", 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/going-intel-stock-earnings-call-165315329.html)
3. [Intel via Business Wire on Yahoo Finance, "Intel Reports Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results", 29 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intel-reports-third-quarter-2026-200100524.html)
4. [Insider Monkey via Yahoo Finance, "Micron (MU) Posts 87% Gross Margins, Yet Trades at 6 Times Earnings. Is the Cycle Different?", 5 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/micron-mu-posts-87-gross-061642765.html)
5. [TheStreet, "Intel CEO's warning offers a 2027 signal for Micron investors", 13 November 2026](https://www.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/intel-micron-memory-shortage)
6. [The Motley Fool, "SK Hynix Says Memory Is Sold Out Through 2029. Micron Is a Winner, Too", 28 October 2026](https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/10/28/sk-hynix-says-memory-is-sold-out-through-2029-micron-is-a-winner-too/)
7. [Android Headlines via MSN, "CXMT could lower chip prices by flooding the market with supply", 13 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/cxmt-could-lower-chip-prices-by-flooding-the-market-with-supply/ar-AA2hnNdX)
8. [TrendForce News, "CXMT Accelerates 4F² DRAM Push, Eyes Year-End Server DDR5 RDIMM Launch", 12 October 2026](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/10/12/news-cxmt-accelerates-4f%c2%b2-dram-push-eyes-year-end-server-ddr5-rdimm-launch/)
9. [AInvest, "You Can't Buy CXMT, the Chinese Memory Maker That Just Matched Micron's Fastest Server-Memory Class", 12 November 2026](https://www.ainvest.com/news/buy-cxmt-chinese-memory-maker-matched-micron-fastest-server-memory-class-threat-poses-slower-october-panic-2611/)
10. [CNBC, "Why this little known Chinese chipmaker has caused a global stock rout", 13 October 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/13/cxmt-memory-chip-stock-rout.html)
11. [Trefis via Yahoo Finance, "SanDisk Stock At $937: Why So Cheap?", 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/sandisk-stock-937-why-cheap-121251961.html)
12. [GuruFocus via Yahoo Finance, "Intel Stocks Fall 4.55% as Nvidia Shake-Up Clouds Its $5 Billion Partner Bet", 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intel-stocks-fall-4-55-175351220.html)
13. [24/7 Wall St., "Intel Q3 2026: Data Center Revenue Surges 78%, but Q4 Faces a Step Down", 29 October 2026](https://247wallst.com/cards/intel-q3-2026-earnings-intc-01m64mq6hr4b53vvv67fkcadph)
14. [Crypto Briefing, "SK Hynix and Intel explore shared memory pools to ease AI bottlenecks", 13 November 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/sk-hynix-intel-shared-memory-pool-ai/)
15. [Micron, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 14 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000723125)


---

Intel's CEO says memory prices rose 'six, seven times' as Micron books an 87% margin — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/intel-s-ceo-says-memory-prices-rose-six-seven-times-as-micron-books-an-87-margin